Sicilian language
| Sicilian (sicilianu) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Italy ( Sicily and parts of Calabria , Apulia and Campania ) | |
| speaker | approx. 4.7 million (2002) | |
| Linguistic classification |
|
|
| Official status | ||
| Official language in | - | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
scn |
|
| ISO 639-3 | ||
Sicilian (proper name: Sicilianu [ siʃiˈljanu ], Italian : Lingua siciliana [ ˈliŋgwa sit͡ʃiˈljaːna ]) is, depending on your point of view, a dialect of the Italian language or an independent individual language . It is spoken by around five million speakers in Sicily itself and a few others in the regions of Apulia , Calabria and Campania . In addition, there is a difficult to estimate number of emigrants all over the world. A total of between five and ten million speakers are accepted.
Classification as a single language
Especially in Italian linguistics, Sicilian is usually considered an Italian dialect . Occasionally, however, there is also a classification as an individual language , which is based primarily on the strong linguistic distance to Italian, e.g. B. Sicilian knows no future tense . It has a long tradition as a literary language . Ethnologue classifies Sicilian as a language and has assigned it the SIL code SCN .
Sicilian outside of Italy
Due to the widespread emigration that began in the 1950s , Sicilian was exported across the borders of Italy. Nowadays there are numerous Sicilian-speaking people , especially in Australia , Argentina , Belgium , Germany , France , Canada and the USA .
Current status
Although there are several million speakers of Sicilian, most of whom speak it as their mother tongue , it only plays a minor role in public life these days. Sicilian is not taught in school, is not the official language in Sicily and is hardly used in practice outside of the social environment. Nevertheless, according to UNESCO , Sicilian is not threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future .
The young Sicilian generation grows up mainly with the Italian language. As a result, she barely mastered the spelling and grammatical rules of Sicilian. No lectures are given in Sicilian at the universities themselves; there are only courses that teach dialettologia, i.e. the linguistic handling of dialects.
Dialects
Like many other languages, Sicilian has its own dialects . They are in detail:
- Siciliano occidentale ( palirmitanu, trapanisi ; spoken in Palermo and Trapani )
- Centrale-occidentale ( Agrigento girgentu )
- Metafonetica centrale ( Caltanissetta nissenu )
- Metafonetica sudorientale ( Ragusa rausanu and Syracuse sarausanu )
- Ennese ( ennisi ; Enna )
- Nonmetafonetica orientale ( catanisi ; Catania )
- Messinese ( missinisi ; Messina )
- Dialetto delle Isole Eolie ( Aeolian Islands )
- Pantesco ( Pantelleria Island )
- Reggino / Calabrese ( calabbrisi ; Reggio Calabria )
- Pugliese meridionale or Salentino ( salintinu ; in the south of Apulia )
Influences
Due to the changeful history of Sicily , due to its central location in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicilian has experienced numerous influences from other languages and has retained it to this day. The Greek , Arabic , French , Spanish (Castilian) and Italian languages should be emphasized .
Examples
Greek
| Sicilian word | Greek origin | German translation |
| babbiari | babazo | fooling around |
| carusu | kouros | Boy; child |
| babbalucia | boubalàkion | slug |
| tuppuliari | typtō | beat |
| appizzari | (eks) èpeson | hanging |
| naca | nake | Cradle |
| nicu | nicròs or micròs | small |
Arabic
| Sicilian word | Arabic origin | German translation |
| dammusu | dammūs | ceiling |
| Cassata | qashatah, qas'at | Sicilian cake |
| zuccu | suq | Tree trunk |
French / Norman
| Sicilian word | French / Norman origin | German translation |
| accatari | acheter / acater | to buy |
| bucceri / vucceri | boucher | Butcher |
| foddi | fou, fol (le) | insane |
| largasìa | largesse | generosity |
| travagghiari | travailler / travaller | work |
Spanish (Castilian)
| Sicilian word | Spanish origin | German translation |
| arricugghirisi | arrecogerse | to return |
| capezza | cabeza | head |
| làstima | lástima | load |
| pignata | piñata | pot |
| sulità / sulitati | soledad | lonliness |
Quirks
Vowels
Sicilian has five vowels: " a ", open " ɛ ", " i ", open " ɔ " and " u ". The three vowels "a", "i" and "u" occur in both stressed and unstressed positions, while "ɔ" and "ɛ" only occur in stressed positions. The closed " e " in other Romance languages coincides with the "i", the closed " o " with the "u". The above examples illustrate this.
Gender and plural formation
Usually, Italian and Sicilian have the same ending for feminine nouns and adjectives , namely the "-a" (e.g. casa (house), porta (door)). However, there are exceptions, e.g. B. soru (sister) and matri (mother). Instead of an “-o”, Sicilian uses a “-u” as an ending for masculine nouns and adjectives (e.g. omu (man), libbru (book), nomu (name)). The ending "-i" can occur in both sexes .
In contrast to the Italian language, plural nouns usually end in "-i", i. This means that they no longer have a gender-specific ending (e.g. casi (houses), nomi (names), tàuli (tables), òmini (men)). In irregular cases, however, they end in "-a" (e.g. libbru - libbra (book - books), jòcuru - jòcura (game - games), vrazzu - vrazza (arm - arms)), which indicates the plural formation of the neuter declines in Latin (e.g .: templum - templa)
No “i” at the beginning of the word
The vast majority of words of Latin origin that begin with an “i” do not have this sound. A similar tendency, although not quite as strong, also exists with the sounds “a”, “e” and “o” at the beginning of a word. As a result, it is not uncommon for many Sicilian words to begin with double consonants .
Examples:
| Sicilian word | Italian translation | German translation |
| mpurtanti | importante | important |
| gnuranti | ignorant | uneducated, ignorant |
| ntirissanti | interesting | Interesting |
| mmàggini | immagini | photos |
| miricanu | Americano | American; American |
| ngrisi | inglese | English; English people |
| talianu | italiano | Italian; Italian |
There are also words that do not have a consonant at the beginning of the word, e.g. B. in ranni (ital. Grande , dt. Large).
The auxiliary verb "haben"
In contrast to the Italian language with its two auxiliary verbs essere (to be) and avere (to have), Sicilian has only one auxiliary verb , namely aviri (to have). The Ibero-Romance languages and the Romanian language also exhibit this characteristic .
Furthermore, there is a grammatical form to formulate an external compulsion, which is constructed with aviri + a , similar to English , Spanish and German:
- E.g .: havi a jiri (German he / she has to go; English he / she has to go; Spanish ha de ir or tiene que ir )
Influences on the Italian language
Sicilian has influenced the Italian vocabulary over time. However, they are primarily limited to the Sicilian culture. These terms are now part of the Italian language, although some shifts in meaning can be identified.
| italian word | Sicilian origin | German meaning |
| arancino | arancinu | Arancino (fried rice ball ) |
| canestrato | ncannistratu | typical Sicilian cheese |
| cannolo | cannolu | Cannolo (deep fried rolling pin ) |
| Cassata | Cassata | Cassata (layer cake) |
| cirneco | cirnecu | Cirneco (dog breed) |
| dammuso | dammusu | Dammuso , typical stone house on Pantelleria |
| marrobbio | marrubbiu | sudden rise in sea level |
| minchia | minchia | Interjection , cf. " Shit! ", Literally" tail " |
| scippo | scippu | Handbag theft |
| stidda | stidda | Stidda (smaller mafia organization) |
see also: Sicilian cuisine
Examples of the written language
Below are some examples of the written language. The extracts are from three famous Sicilian poets Antonio Veneziano , Giovanni Meli and Nino Martoglio .
Lu Patri Nostru (The Lord's Prayer)
- Patri nostru, chi siti 'n celu,
- Sia santificatu lu vostru nomu,
- Vinissi prestu lu vostru regnu,
- Sempri sia fatta la vostra divina vuluntati
- Comu 'n celu accussì' n terra.
- Dàtinillu sta jurnata lu panuzzu cutiddianu
- E pirdunàtini li nostri piccati
- Accussì comu nui li rimittemu ê nostri nimici
- E nun ni lassati cascari ntâ tintazzioni,
- ma scanzàtini dû mali.
- Amen.
Extract by Antonio Veneziano
Celia, Lib. 2 (around 1600)
- Non è xhiamma ordinaria, no, la mia
- è xhiamma chi sul'iu tegnu e rizettu,
- xhiamma pura e celesti, ch'ardi 'n mia;
- per gran misteriu e cu stupendu effettu.
- Amuri, 'ntentu a fari idulatria,
- s'ha novamenti sazerdoti elettu;
- tu, sculpita 'ntra st'alma, sì la dia;
- sacrificiu lu cori, ara stu pettu.
Extract by Giovanni Meli
Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza (around 1800)
- Stracanciatu di notti soli jiri;
- S'ammuccia ntra purtuni e cantuneri;
- cu vacabunni ci mustra piaciri;
- poi lu so sbiu sunnu li sumeri,
- li pruteggi e li pigghia a ben vuliri,
- li tratta pri parenti e amici veri;
- siccomu ancura è n'amicu viraci
- di li bizzari, capricciusi e audaci.
Excerpt from Nino Martoglio
Briscula 'n Cumpagnia (" Briscola (an Italian card game) among friends", around 1900)
- —Càrricu, mancu? Cca cc'è 'n be di spati!
- —E chi schifiu è, di sta manera?
- Don Peppi Nnappa, d'accussì jucati?
- —Misseri e sceccu ccu tutta 'a tistera,
- comu vi l'haju a diri, a vastunati,
- ca mancu haju sali di salera!
Care of the Sicilian language
The Nino Martoglio International Book Award has been presented in Belpasso since 1987 . This literary award honors Sicilian writers who work to preserve the Sicilian language. So far, awards include Giuseppe Bonaviri , Gesualdo Bufalino , Andrea Camilleri and Vincenzo Consolo .
See also
- Portal: Sicily ; Sicily ; History of Sicily
- Sicilian School of Poetry (scuola siciliana)
- Siculian - Sicilianization of English words in the United States
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sicilian in Ethnologue